


Confessions

by ozuttly



Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Confessions, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, discussion of sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 05:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4693034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/pseuds/ozuttly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I am in love with you,” Chase says, his voice as steady and toneless as always, and Kiriko doesn't know what to say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confessions

“I am in love with you,” Chase says, his voice as steady and toneless as always, and Kiriko doesn't know what to say. 

She'd known that Chase had wanted to talk about something when he called her up to the roof, for the second time in as many days. Tomari-san and Gou had both been acting oddly too, stepping around her like they were walking on eggshells. Something had been off, and she knew it, but she could never have expected--

Chase was staring at her, hands clenched loosely in fists by his sides, and Kiriko felt her mouth feeling suddenly dry. 

“Chase, I...” She tried swallowing, hoping that it would help, but her tongue still felt heavy in her mouth. He was looking at her, expectant and eager, and she knew that he didn't mean it, but she felt the pressure of his eyes boring into her chest, and it was almost too much. “T-thank you. I'm glad that you... I'm glad that you let me know.” 

The words come out sounding hollow even to her own ears, and she knows that she's being rude. Chase doesn't know what he's doing, by calling her out like this. Gou obviously hadn't told him. Kiriko was glad that he did, and that she could trust him with her secrets like this, but at the same time she almost wishes he had said something. She finds herself loosely fidgeting with the shift car holder at her belt, trying to ignore the way that Chase was looking at her, the way that a small hint of hurt and disappointment passed over his face. 

“You don't... feel the same,” he says slowly, and even though the tone of his voice has hardly changed, Kiriko immediately feels sorry for making him feel that way. It isn't Chase's fault. He doesn't know, but.

“It's not that, Chase,” She says quickly, waving one hand in front of her as though to whisk away the sadness from his voice. “It's not that I don't care about you, because I do, it's just--”

He's looking up at her again, eyes expectant and waiting, something that looked akin to hope behind his gaze, and she swallows heavily. Chase is the one who saved her, both on that rainy night so long ago and so many times since then. And she does care about him, very deeply, probably even love him in a way. But it's the same kind of love she feels for Gou and Tomari-san; she isn't going to lie to him, and he at least deserves an explanation. 

“Chase,” she begins slowly, taking a step backwards towards the railing on the roof. She reaches out for it with one hand, leaning on it as she avoids his gaze for a second before looking up at him again. “Chase, I'm a lesbian.” 

Chase looks at her, his eyes squinting in confusion, and Kiriko takes a deep breath. This isn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped. 

“I... Don't know what that word means,” he answers slowly, glancing down as though he's puzzling it over in his own head. He looks like a child, being caught in school with a question he doesn't know the answer to. It's endearing, and Kiriko smiles ever so slightly as she pats the railing next to her. There's still a lump in her throat, and it's still a little hard to breathe – she doesn't forget the first time she'd rejected a friend's advances, or the way that he'd looked at her when she explained – but Chase does deserve to know the reason why she can't return his affections. 

“It's... Chase, you like me because I'm a girl, right?” She begins, a bit hesitant as Chase walks over to stand next to her, his posture still awkwardly stiff next to the fence. He pauses for a second as he considers her question, his face scrunching up in confusion and contemplation. 

“I... Assumed that that was the way romance worked,” He says after a moment, and Kiriko exhales slowly. It isn't like he's being malicious; he hasn't said that she's wrong or broken, and she knows that he won't, not in those words, but it still stings a little bit hearing it. 

“It does, for some people. But, everybody's different. There are some men out there who aren't romantically interested in women, but, uhm... Other men. And there are some women out there who aren't interested in men, but who only feel romantically for other women. Do... Do you understand?” She asks, and there's the slightest hint of a waver in her voice as she clenches her fist around the guardrail. Chase looks down at the ground for a moment, his eyes still narrowed, but then a look of understanding washes over his face as he turns his eyes up towards her once more. 

“Kiriko, you... are a woman who is only interested in other women,” he says, his voice wary, as though he's not sure if what he's saying is correct or not. Kiriko nods slowly, her grip tightening until her knuckles turn white, but then Chase continues. “So the reason you cannot return my affections is because I am male. Not because I am inhuman.” 

Kiriko is so startled, she lets go of the guard rail and almost loses her balance. She looks up at Chase in shock, and he looks startled in turn, taking half a step back. He looks like he's not sure what he's said that is wrong, and Kiriko immediately shakes her head, making wild gestures with her hands to try and placate him. 

“No! No, that's not it at all, I just-- Chase, why did you think that?!” She's too surprised and overwhelmed to even feel hurt by the suggestion, or to realize that Chase hasn't said one bad thing to her since she made her confession. In fact, he looks even more nervous than she is, and it's his turn to turn away and grip the guardrail as he tries to find the right words. 

“I do not know, I just... I consulted Shinnosuke and Gou on my feelings for you--” he begins, and Kiriko chokes on air. She's a little bit angry about that, but Chase flinches when her eyebrows draw together, and she can't stay mad at him when he looks so much like a small animal. Instead she sighs heavily, feeling a bit of a headache coming on. 

She finally flops down onto her bottom, leaning against the fence as she tries to get herself a bit more comfortable. She has a feeling that this conversation is going to get very long, and she's already tired of standing around. Chase watches her for a moment before she pats the ground beside her, and he seats himself, a respectable distance away. Kiriko takes note of the motion, and her anger starts to slip away a little bit. 

“Chase... Why do you say that you love me?” She asks, her voice soft, and Chase merely frowns at the question. 

“When I look at you, I feel a... warmth in my chest. I wish to protect you, and see you smile,” He answers, almost like he's reading from a text book, and Kiriko has to fight to keep from sighing. 

“And? Anything else?” 

Chase stops, a look of uncertainty returning to his face. 

“Is there... Is there anything else?” He asks, and Kiriko feels a wry smile coming to her face as she leans back against the fencing behind her. 

“You don't ever want to kiss me? Or hold hands, or go on dates?” She asks, glancing to the side at him, and Chase is frowning even more than ever. 

“I... I had never thought about those things before,” he says carefully, his fingers tapping nervously at the fence beside him. He's thinking about them now, though, Kiriko can tell, and she gives him a moment to gather his thoughts, keeping silent until he's ready to continue. “I do not think that I would have a problem with kissing you, Kiriko. However, I think that such a thing would make you uncomfortable, so I do not wish to do it. I do not have an average human body temperature, so I do not believe that holding my hand would be pleasant. As for dates, I--”

He pauses for a moment, and then turns away. Kiriko blinks, shifting a bit so that she can lean closer to him. He seems slightly distressed for a moment, then slowly glances back at her, somehow looking smaller than ever as he wets his lips with his tongue. 

“Is... Is wanting to kiss and go on dates... is that part of loving somebody?” He asks, and Kiriko hums in response as she leaned away, placing her hands on the ground. The anxiety that she had felt earlier is starting to ebb away, and she almost reaches out to place a reassuring hand on Chase's, before deciding it would probably just confuse him more. 

“Sometimes it is,” she says, looking up at the sky as a small smile came to her face. “Back before we met you, before Tomari-san became drive, Rinna-san and I were lovers for a while. We didn't really go on dates all that often, but we would kiss sometimes and hold hands a lot. We'd stay in together, while Rinna-san cooked, and then we'd watch movies. I enjoyed spending time with her, and always wanted to make her happy. I don't know if I was /in/ love with her, at least in the way you mean, but I did really care about her. I still do, even though she's moved on. But she's still happy, and that makes me happy. I think... that's part of loving somebody. Wanting to be around them, and wanting what's best for them.”

Chase listens intently, then slowly turns away. 

“Kiriko,” he begins, and she glances back at him, tilting her head to the side in question. He stops, hesitating, then looks at her again, looking even more earnest now than he did when he first called her out. “I believe that I... I do not know if I understand exactly what romantic love is. However, I know that you are not interested in me in such a manner, and I accept that.” 

The weight in her stomach that had been plaguing her all evening finally washes away completely, and Kiriko lets out a soft sigh as she pulls herself in closer, leaning heavily against Chase's shoulder. He stiffens for a moment, then wraps an arm around her and pulls her in close when he sees the way that her fingers are clutching the sleeve of his jacket. 

“Thank you, Chase,” she says softly, and he nods his head, simply holding her for a long moment, making sure she's comfortable. Then he opens his mouth again. 

“However, I... I think that I may be in love with Gou,” he says, and Kiriko can't help but let go of his sleeve and fall forward onto the roof.

**Author's Note:**

> I can already tell I'm really not going to like how they're going to handle Kiriko's relationships with Chase and Shinnosuke in the show, so I came up with something different. Chase/Gou snuck its way into it because it always seems to do that, lately.


End file.
